Jakarta: An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 struck Indonesia's Northern Sumatra province on Saturday, killing one, said the country's meteorology and geophysics agency, BMKG.
Nine people were injured in the quake, which was felt in a few towns and prompted people to flee their homes, BMKG chief Dwikorita Karnawati told reporters.
Five houses were damaged and 53 aftershocks were recorded after the quake was first felt at 2:28 a.m. (1928 GMT), she said, adding there was no tsunami risk but warning of potential landslides in hilly areas.
The epicenter was reported at 15 km northwest of the North Tapanuli district and a depth of 10 km, the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
The fault along Sumatra island can be particularly active and dangerous. In 2004, a massive 9.1 magnitude quake and a tsunami off the northern tip of Sumatra killed 226,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries.
The quake, followed by two tremors with magnitudes of 5.1 and 5.0 respectively, did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami, according to the agency.
The hardest-hit area is the North Tapanuli district, said Agus Wibisono, head of the Search and Rescue Office for the Nias Island of the North Sumatra province. The tremors were also felt in the nearby province of Aceh.
Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes, straddling the "Pacific Ring of Fire", a seismically active zone where different plates of the earth's crust meet.
Magnitude 5.6 earthquake strikes Myanmar
An earthquake of 5.6 magnitude was also reported in Myanmar on Friday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.
The quake was about 112 km (69.59 miles) north northwest of Monywa in Myanmar and had a depth of 144 km (89.48 miles) EMSC added.
